Hey all, Time for another round of Comic reviews. This was a week of surprises for me, I thought it was a 7 issue week but it turned into 8. This week we have the true face of Mr. Unknown, The Dead Avengers final battle, Resilient comes to an end, Power Girl's best issue?, Rogers on the warpath, Superior finds his Lois Lane, Wonder Woman improved?, and Zatanna hates puppets. With that lets begin....
DC
Batman, Inc. #2
Story: Batman assists Jiro against Death Man. Jiro tells Bruce that he is the Physical form of Mr. Unknown while the one Bruce knew has aged greatly. Meanwhile Death man heads to a exhibit to kill another Japanese Hero. Jiro dresses as Mr. Unknown and saves the die, and after Bruce leaves Japan saying that Jiro has joined the Bat Inc.
Review: I been sold since issue #1 and this is the best premiere series that DC has released. Yes I know its Batman, but its taking the next phase of Batman and giving him a greater role in the world. I like the idea of seeing so many Batman style heroes of various cultures. Mr. Unknown is kinda cool, but looks more like Latino Batman, but that is for the next issue. This issue has amazing pace and feels like a great quick read, you can't pull your head away. Morrison is amazing at writing the Bat character's, he does great writing for Cat Woman, which unlike Black Cat, she is used in better degree and a tad more classy.
Artwork: I love the artwork that Paquette and Lacombe. The action scenes are amazing and they fit in so much in these awesome splash pages. I love the design of Bruce’s Batman and Cat woman, which are well drawn, Selina exudes sexiness but doesn't showcase it much like Black Cat, again the subtly of her sexiness is what makes Selina amazing.
Grade: I give this issue a solid A+, its great, fast paced and the artwork is wonderful
Power Girl #19
Story: Kara tells the JSA that she, as well as the other members of the JLI know that Maxwell Lord is behind all this, but has mind wiped everyone into thinking other things that happened but didn't. As she and the JSA, along with Grayson, all of them suddenly lose the thoughts of their entire meeting, Kara is in tears but can't remember why. Kara rests but has a nightmare where Divine kills Nicco and Max Shoots her, but she awakes unable to remember. Nicco informs her about a place where Max and Divine could be. She heads over there and finds Doctor Sivana, who shows off his new creatures.
Review: As I mentioned this is probably the best Power Girl issue of the Winick/Basri run. I feel sad knowing that she and everyone else are victims of Max and his ability to erase minds and just mess with people, and getting away with it. Its the struggle with trying to understand against a power that can destroy it. It was great seeing the past she and her friends, with their own experiences with Max. The action scenes are fun and the nightmare scene took me for a total loop. Winick continues to impress me with his run of the character, I'm glad he kept her the same after a great run with the last group.
Artwork: Basri continues to impress with the artwork of the series. One great scene with Grayson and Kara is in the JSA, believe it or not, Kara is taller than Grayson, which surprised me. Basri once again does a few angles of Kara that leave little to the imagination, Wink Wink. Everything else in this issue is spectacular.
Grade: I give this issue an A+. the story transcends the character into a whole new level, and the artwork is stunning.
Wonder Woman #605
Story: Diana returns to her apartment to relax after her battle. She relaxes and lets her cat guardian leave for a minute and chat with one of her well respected guardians. She leaves and heads over to a pawn shop to sell a prized artifact. Meanwhile two evil women known as the Morrigan, decide to seek out and destroy Diana, they turn two men into a centaur and a minotaur. Diana visits a friend and hands her the huge bundle of cash and gets found out by her guards and leaves, but gets attacked by the Horse and Bull.
Review: WOW!!!!...this is a great improvement from the JMS, which lets face it, had a good idea, but sadly was unable to execute it properly. The new writer, Phil Hester, does a great job writing Diana as a more relatable than JMS made her out to be, which I think she was lacking. There are a few hints of Diana's old life and suit, but they dance around the subject and make it seem like it did happen, but not sure. The new villains, the Morrigan, are pretty cool so far and they seem the more sit and see villains, rather than out in the field villains, which is why we get two well known mythological creatures. We also get a new origin tale of Diana when she was a child, and how proud she was as a warrior. I'm super impressed by Hester and I can't wait to see what he does with Diana.
Artwork: There are a few misses when it comes to Diana's face in a few panels, which is a slight distraction, but not that bad. I love the mixture of the Amazon's designs, which is modern and ancient. I loved the Morrigan's lair, which is full of many ancient world artifacts. And yes they got rid of her biker jacket, which is a better improvement too.
Grade: This issue gets a B-, its much better than the last few issues and I feel that Hester is gonna take this title in the right direction. The art is kinda wonky in a few places but it's not a total distraction.
Zatanna #8
Story: Z has a phobia of Puppets after a traumatic incident, but unable to remember when or how. She teams up with the dream demon from the first arc. He probes into her dreams and discovers the true culprit from her past.
Review: I didn't want to spoil much about this issue, but it is a very great issue. I had some gripes with the prior arc, because I hate the idea of making a strong heroine and making her weak before a man. This arc, introduces us that she has fears but its from the past, much like Bruce, which is shown in a flashback of a team up they had. This is good Dini as usual, he continues to impress me with his way of writing Zatanna.
Artwork: When will Roux be back as the main artist, he does the best design of Zatanna I have ever seen. I like the other artists that have been filling in for him since he had to leave for some reason, but lets hope he returns very soon
Grade: I give this issue an A-, it's a nice start to the arc, it shows the human side to her. The artwork is good but its no Roux.
Marvel
Dead Avengers #2 of 3
Story: Captain Marvel recalls of his tales of the Kree fighting off the Skrull, planning on using a strategy that he used in the battle in the current situation. The other members go scouting to see the current goings on. Grim Reaper is still trying to get into the stronghold but doesn't get far. Mean while Dr. Druid discovers his former flame has sided with the Chaos King and goes to see her in an astral form, but instead of joining with her, he belittles her. The team prepares a final diversion but Marvel is attacked
Review: This is another issue that is enjoyable. While it doesn't connect with the main event, its still nice seeing a series about a group of heroes that were forgotten. I like seeing the history of Mar-vel, and how he uses his own experiences in combat, in a earthly battle. We get another back story, involving Death cry, which her back story is a tad sad. The shock ending is amazing and I can't wait to see how it ends.
Artwork: It's impressive for this title. I love the coloring and design of the character's. The action scenes are impressive and are the best I seen for this series.
Grade: This issue gets a B, its nice and while it doesn't add anything new, its nice to follow a good aspect of this event.
Invincible Iron Man #33
Story: The clock is counting down for Tony and Pepper. Tony drives around in his Resilient car while Detroit Steel and his drones are giving chase. Maria Hill steps in and helps shut down the drones but urges Babbage to call off Steel or else being risked of treason. He calls up the Hammers and has them order Steel to stop, they agree on one condition, free prisoner 139, a person from Stark's past. Tony shows off his new car and prepares for the future.
Review: This reminds me of the Iron Man movies, its got all this amazing exposition and action scenes, but the final bout is short and just stops after it gets good. This is just like that, Tony only drives and dodges the drone attacks, and he is about to ram into DS but its averted by a simple call. I almost felt cheated by this, I know the RT is the main cause but still all those covers featuring Iron Man fighting DS felt like we were about to see something awesome, but no....we get a car chase. Still this is a nice issue and while it's a weak ending, it's setting up for a fan favorite villains return.
Artwork: The artwork is impressive as usual, and the car chase is actually well done and feels very cinematic. The facial expressions are top notched, it does remind me of Basri's work.
Grade: I give this issue a B+, the way it concludes is unfair, but a good issue and sets up a new era for Stark. The artwork is very cinematic and has some great moments in this issue.
Secret Avengers #8
Story: Jack Steele and Max Fury plan to attack the Secret Avengers while they are still in China. Rogers leads the team to attack the ninjas and Shang Chi joins in. However unbeknownst to them it was a trick and Max and Jack attack the other members still on the Jet. Carter is attacked and taken hostage, Rogers is PISSED!!!!
Review: OH MAN THIS SH%T JUST GOT REAL!!!! I loved this issue, another smash hit. I love seeing Steve being a bad-ass. This was an impressive issue for the series. We get more clues to Shang Chi's father and what he is capable of. The Shadow Council continues to be more interesting of a group, especially with Max and Jack, which are there Nick and Steve. Brubaker continues to be awesome of a writer with these character's, he has really evolved Rogers from a boy scout to a man of action.
Artwork: Deodato is just amazing with this series. I loved the action beats and the ending is just awesome.
Grade: I give this issue an A-, its a great issue, it gets real now, and the artwork is impressive and a sight to be seen.
Superior #3
Story: Superior gets its Lois Lane and we get news of all his new heroic exploits
Review: I loved this issue, I love how Millar introduced us to this worlds Lois Lane, she is a bystander who witnesses this new phenomenon. We see and read a lot of Superiors heroics, his biggest was saving a stranded sub, which he wants a coke afterward. This issue is mostly news beats and the last few pages we focus on the main characters. We also get a hint as to what the space monkey really is.
Artwork: Their design of this series's Lois Lane seems to be more designed around Cat Grant, and you know what I mean too.lol. The final page with the space monkey is cool and creepy.
Grade: I give this issue an A-, its a great issue, introduces us more to this world and the people in it. Also the artwork continues to impress and has an amazing splash page.
And that's all for this week's releases, hope you all have happy holidays and will catch you all next week. Til then ComicCritic87 OUT!!!!